One popular form of filing system in wide use today is the so-called "hanging file" in which two parallel support rails are positioned within a file drawer and extend laterally therein. File folders with hooks positioned at their upper outside ends are placed within the file drawer and hang (are suspended) by the hooks resting upon the support rails.
While this system has many advantages, it is not readily suitable for storing ring binders. Conventional ring binders have a book-like construction with a spine hingedly attached to front and back covers and a ring mechanism mounted to the spine by rivets or other fasteners. It is possible, during the manufacture of the ring binders, to make the ring binder capable of being suspended in the hanging file system by providing outwardly extending hooks for resting atop the lateral support rails of the hanging file system. However, this is inapplicable to the problem of placing existing, conventional ring binders in a hanging file. Furthermore, it is important that the ring binder, once removed from the hanging file, be capable of being quickly converted to its ordinary configuration in which it does not have hooks extending from the ends of the spine. This is so because such outwardly extending hooks tend to mar surfaces with which the hooks come in contact and in general the hooks tend to get in the way and look clumsy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,201 of Kenney, et al. relates to a hanger for ring binders which is capable of being used with existing, conventional ring binders. The hanger disclosed therein has an elongate member with a length greater than the length of the spine of the ring binder, with hooks provided on the ends of the elongate member. The elongate member also has a number of slots to allow the member to be slipped over the rings of the ring binder. The slots have a length sufficient to allow the elongate member to slide along the length of the spine to allow the ring binder to stand on end without having the lowermost hook interfere with the supporting surface upon which the ring binder is standing. Such a device generally suffers however from requiring that to be used with existing ring binders already having material placed therein, the rings of the ring binder must be opened up to place the elongate member on the rings, thereby providing an opportunity for losing papers or replacing papers out of sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,146 of Schudy relates to a suspension device for ring binders and discloses a device which is formed of an angled strip having slides which can be pulled out so as to project from opposite ends of the spine to suspend the binder. The device is adapted to fit on the rings of the ring mechanism of the binder and acts to support the rings for supporting the binder. Schudy also suffers from the same general shortcoming of devices according to Kenney, et al, namely that in order to mount and dismount the device of Schudy to a ring binder, one must open and close tile rings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,527 of Blessing relates to a device for supporting ring binders in a hanging file which is capable of being mounted to existing conventional ring binders without requiring that the rings of the ring binder be opened. The devices are inserted between the spine of the ring binder and the ring mechanism at each end of the spine of the ring binder. The ring binder can then be placed in a hanging file with the medial portions of the devices resting atop the support rails of the hanging file.
When conventional ring binders are supported on a conventional hanging file frame by the devices according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,527, the ring binders sometimes can extend downwardly at a distance greater than the vertical distance between the lateral supports of the hanging file frame and the bottom of the file drawer. The result of this is that the ring binders can come in contact with the bottom of the file drawer. This contact between the ring binder and the bottom of the file drawer is undesirable. For example, this contact causes the ring binders to angle to one side in the file drawer. Also, the ring binder covers or the contents may become bent as a result of the contact. Furthermore, such an arrangement fails to maximize efficiency in the use of file drawer space.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need yet remains for a hanging file system for supporting conventional ring binders in a conventional hanging file, while preventing the ring binder covers from being bent and promoting maximum efficiency in the use of file drawer space. It is to the provision of such that the present invention is primarily directed.